Stanislaus County, CA Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)
Quiet hours in Stanislaus County, CA, also called the noise ordinance, nighttime noise rules, or residential quiet time, define the hours during which excessive noise is prohibited.
Key Facts
- Quiet hours
- 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
- Overnight test
- Audible inside another inhabited dwelling
- Daytime audio/vehicle limit
- Not audible beyond 50 feet
- Daytime power-tool limit
- Not audible beyond 100 feet
- Yard-equipment exemption window
- 7:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. only
Summary
Stanislaus County Code § 10.46.060(C) bars operating any audio equipment between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. so that it is audible inside another inhabited dwelling. Parallel subsections apply the same 10 p.m.-to-7 a.m. window to motor-vehicle sound systems and power tools, forming the county's general nighttime quiet-hours regime.
Audio Equipment. No person shall operate any audio equipment, whether portable or not, between the hours of ten p.m. and seven a.m. such that the equipment is audible to the human ear inside an inhabited dwelling other than a dwelling in which the equipment may be located. No person shall operate any audio equipment, whether portable or not, at any other time such that the equipment is audible to the human ear at a distance greater than fifty feet from the equipment.
Full Breakdown
audibility rule across three everyday noise sources. Subsection (C), Audio Equipment, bars operating any audio equipment, portable or not, during that window so that it is audible inside an inhabited dwelling other than the one where the equipment sits; outside those hours the same equipment is limited instead to being inaudible beyond fifty feet. Subsections (A) and (B) mirror that structure for motor vehicle sound systems and for power tools and equipment: overnight, neither may be audible inside another inhabited dwelling, while during the day a motor vehicle sound system must stay inaudible beyond fifty feet and power tools beyond one hundred feet. m. loses its exemption and falls back under the general chapter standards, including the audio- and power-tool-specific caps above.
Violations & Fines
An enforcement official documents a nighttime violation by confirming that audio equipment, a vehicle sound system, or power tools operating between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. were audible inside an occupied dwelling other than the one where the source is located; each such source is independently enforceable under its own paragraph of § 10.46.060, and the underlying conduct is also declared a public nuisance under § 10.46.020.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I run a stereo or speakers late at night in unincorporated Stanislaus County?
Does the quiet-hours rule cover car stereos too?
Can I use a leaf blower or lawnmower after 10 p.m.?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Stanislaus County
How Stanislaus County compares: Cities with the Strictest Noise Ordinances·California rules heatmap·Compare Stanislaus County to another location·View the California noise ordinances overview
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